Jonathan Toews battled hard for possession of the puck along the end boards, fed Marian Hossa in front and the veteran winger buried it — all while the Blackhawks were short-handed early on against the Kings.

Just like that, the Hawks had answered questions of how they would respond following one of their worst outings of the season and how they would start against a team that hadn’t allowed a first-period goal in 18 games.

The sequence with just under six minutes elapsed in the first period propelled the Hawks to an impressive 3-1 victory over a Kings team that came into the game red-hot and left it wondering what hit them Sunday night at the United Center.